NEWS RELEASE
ROYAL VICTORIA REGIONAL HEALTH CENTRE
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Royal Victoria Regional Health Centre (RVH) needs to double in size to meet current and future healthcare needs. RVH wants your input into the short list of potential designs for the significant expansion of the current ‘north campus’ on Georgian Drive. Given the explosive population growth across the region, the health centre needs to expand by 800,000 square feet, including a new, multi-story inpatient tower that will add over 250 new beds.
Almost every department in the current facility needs to expand as new programs and services are added. Three design options, narrowed down from six through community and staff consultation, are posted on RVH’s website rvhplanourfuture.ca for public comment.
“We have engaged with patients, public and staff every step of the way,” says Janice Skot, RVH president and CEO. “Feedback is integral to our planning process and since launching the capital planning project 18 months ago we have had over 23,000 interactions with the community through presentations, surveys, focus groups and conversations with the ‘RVH Street Team’ at community events.”
All design options for the expansion include parking structures for additional parking, the ability to allow helicopters to land on the new inpatient tower and segregation of patient flow and service functions to increase infection prevention and control throughout the entire health centre. Commenting on the design options is open until September 30, 2019.
“This expansion will shape healthcare for generations to come and we need to get it right,” says Skot. “Your input will help shape the future of healthcare in our region.” RVH’s north campus expansion is part of a graduated plan for future development which also includes building a new south campus in south Barrie or Innisfil.
Work is currently underway to select a site for the new facility and, using clear criteria, the search area has been narrowed down from over 225 square-kilometers to nine potential sites. Expert consultants continue a very comprehensive analysis to develop a short-list of top-ranked sites that RVH’s Board of Directors will consider.
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